i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-contact rotation waterproof and dustproof method of a labyrinth clearance formed by uneven surfaces of a fixed part and a rotary part and a machine using the non-contact rotation waterproof and dustproof method.
ii) Description of the Related Arts
In a conventional machine tool such as a lathe, a drilling machine or the like, usually, a turret tool rest for holding a plurality of cutters is provided. A cutter suitable for a processing purpose is mounted onto a turret of the turret tool rest, and the turret is rotated at a low speed until the cutter is moved to a predetermined position. Then, the turret is fixed, and by rotating a material to be processed at a high speed, a cutting processing of the material by the cutter is started.
When a contact seal such as an O-ring or the like is used for a waterproof and dustproof means between the turret and a tool rest body of the turret tool rest, a power loss occurs due to abrasion and a slide resistance to lower the operating efficiency of the machine tool. In order to improve this problem, a non-contact seal is used, as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, in a turret tool rest, a turret 103 is rotatably mounted on a tool rest body 101. An uneven surface part 102 having an uneven surface is formed on the tool rest body 101 and another uneven surface 104 having an uneven surface facing and corresponding to the uneven surface of the uneven surface part 102 is formed on the turrent 103 so that a labyrinth clearance 105 may be formed between the uneven surfaces of the uneven surface parts 102 and 104. Invasion or penetration of cutting water, chips and the like can be prevented by the labyrinth clearance 105 in this waterproof and dustproof method.
In this conventional waterproof and dustproof method using the labyrinth clearance 105, when the rotation speed of the turret 103 is slow or the turret 103 is stopped, the cutting water, the chips or the like can easily come into the labyrinth clearance 105 and thus the waterproof and dustproof effect will not be realised.